Trend Tuesday: Etsy July 12, 2011

Shopping Local, owning your own small business, etc.  It doesn’t get more trendy than that these days!  Here are some of my favorite recent finds on Etsy:  Click the pictures to check out their shops.  Happy Tuesday!

Trend Tuesday: Festive Wear July 5, 2011

I was going through some old pictures this past weekend and found a picture with my 2nd grade teacher.  She was wearing a lemon and orange appliqued t-shirt to celebrate the end of the school year and the beginning of summer.  I then thought about how often I had teachers who would literally wear the holiday on their body.  Whether it be an ugly Christmas sweater or a Valentine’s Day vest.  Or the dreaded holiday earring.  What were they thinking?  Fashion bloggers all over the country celebrated the 4th without wearing a flag so I thought I’d share some of these lovely festive outfits with you!  Starting with two of my 4 weekend looks…

I wore this to an afternoon birthday party. The red is on the toes.

Wore this to church and had to dodge children with brownie hands that wanted to touch my white pants 🙂 The ladder was still up from our weekend of home improvements...more on that later!

Then there is this festive wear, which of course isn't for Independence day, but it could be minus the maple leaf and adding a navy handbag. Goodness she is stunning!

And here are a few bloggers who showed their pride without wearing an American flag as an outfit!

Jenny Lynne

Linda

 

and of course BEE

 

What did you wear to celebrate the day?

 

Trend Tuesday: Wedges June 28, 2011

So this trend has been around for a LONG time, but now they are making a big surge again due to the new popularity in the Bell Bottom.  Who would have thought these would make a comeback already.  I have yet to purchase a pair and to be honest I don’t think I have quite the right build for a flare jean, they look cute on the thin tall ladies, but anyway here are some wedges if you are blessed to have the body for the bell bottoms or if you are a skirt wearer that likes some comfy height.  I chose a few pairs from Target and they are all on sale and under $30.

Need might be an over-exaggeration, but I REALLY want these!!

I would get tons of wear out of this neutral number

You can never have enough black shoes, right?

 

Trend Tuesday: Mineral Make-up June 21, 2011

I know this trend has been around for a long time, but there are lots of different brands now and I have found a cheap brand that I really like so I thought I’d share it with you.  My sister-in-law got me Bare Minerals when I was in high school for Christmas, that was really when I started wearing makeup on a regular basis and I felt like I could actually tolerate wearing this makeup all day and it never made me break out.  Since then I have never tried anything but mineral makeup, but I have found a cheaper version that is reportedly better for your skin than the Bare Minerals.  Apparently Bare Minerals has talcum powder in it which is bad for your skin.  My sister-in-law introduced me to Erth Minerals which is what I’ve been wearing for the last few years and at half the price it’s awesome all around!

Trend Tuesday: Shorts June 14, 2011

It’s HOT here in Texas, like 100 EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.  I knew it would be hot when we moved here, but I wasn’t quite prepared for the daily triple digits in June.  Oh well, it’s just the perfect excuse to buy some new clothes…shorts of course.  I am not a huge shorts wearer, honestly I have long thinish legs so I’m not weird about my legs, but I think when I wear shorts the rest of my body looks extremely squatty.  That’s just something I have to get over, so here are some of my favorite shorts from Forever21.  I try to stick to my $20 for bottoms rule so all of my choices are under $20.  Currently it’s tough to find shorts on a super sale since we are just getting into warmer weather, so I suggest getting a few pairs of cheap basic shorts to get you through the summer and then stocking up on higher quality shorts when they go on sale at the end of the season.  Here are my top picks for dressy, jean and white shorts.

Love this trend for the summer season and at $17.80 it won't break your budget!

Here is a great midlength short, probably most appropriate for my age. Comfy and Casual $17.80.

White Pair has cute back button pockets. Also $17.80

 

Trend Tuesday: Granite Countertops June 7, 2011

When my husband and I bought our first house this past February we really wanted granite counter tops.  I hunted and found a great sale at Home Depot and we almost bit the bullet and purchased the granite, but then we chickened out because it was going to be somewhere around $3000 and although at the time we had it, we learned later how quickly money leaks out of your account when you get your first place!  So I searched online, read some blogs and settled on Giani Granite.  I was a bit skeptical at first and I figured it wouldn’t ACTUALLY look like granite, but we had to do something with our counter tops so I figured I’d give it a try for $60.  They turned out pretty great and I’ve had some people fooled into thinking it was actually granite.  I chose the Sicilian Sand and kept it a little bit dark, but there are several colors you can choose from.  If you have a question, leave a comment!

The were dirty dingy cream before so this was a drastic change!

And here is a close up

Trend Tuesday: Cardigans May 31, 2011

I’ve decided to get back in the blogging world I would start with trend Tuesdays.  Each week I will highlight a trend for fashion or home and tell you how I do it for less.  Sometimes this might be telling you about a great deal I got or a way that I cut costs and got a similar product.  So here is the first installment of Trend Tuesdays highlighting Cardigans:

This past weekend Ann Taylor Loft had 50% off all their sale merchandise (it ends on Thursday).  I LOVE ATL, however I cannot afford their full price fare, so I stick to the sale sections and I try to go every time they have 50% off sale merchandise.  If you live in the Austin area I have found that the ATL at the Hill Country Galleria has the absolute best sales.  I found 3 cardigans on my recent visit and the retail price for these pieces together was $180…keep reading to find out what my grand total was!

Was $59.50, scored this find for $7.50

Retail $59.50, scored this one for $10. I've been wanting this cardigan for months and it was the LAST ONE in the store and my size!!

Retail $59.50, scored this for $7.50. This is PERFECT for summer because it's super lightweight.

Unlike fruit that is cheapest in season, cardigans are cheapest out of season so STOCK UP NOW!!!  I figure your taste and fashion styles will not change much by the time cooler weather hits and you can save huge amounts of money.  So my bill could have been $180 plus tax and I paid a whopping $26.87 including tax!